


The Absence of Money Talks Even Louder

by Idle_Hans



Series: AU is a Measure of Distance [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Canon Divergence, Gen, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-23
Updated: 2020-06-23
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:53:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24871849
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Idle_Hans/pseuds/Idle_Hans
Summary: Harry's trial before the Wizengamot for underage magic is quite the banana peel.Anyone could skid on it in any direction.
Series: AU is a Measure of Distance [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1799656
Comments: 3
Kudos: 37





	The Absence of Money Talks Even Louder

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [A Bad Week at the Wizengamot](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/636826) by DisobedienceWriter. 



Have you never wondered, Minister, why, of all the ancient families, the Potters are among the few who aren't wealthy? The MacFusties long ago committed all their resources to running a dragon reserve; the Weasleys are blessed with such an abundance of magical fertility that there's always too many of them for inherited wealth to accumulate; and the Gaunts inbred themselves to poverty; but the Potters .... well, the relative poverty of the Potters has a very interesting cause indeed. When the House of Peverell became extinct in the male line all those centuries ago, much of that family's most considerable wealth passed to Iolanthe Peverell, wife of Hardwin Potter. Those two, in a _magnificent_ act of generosity, decided they didn't need that money for themselves, and they placed it instead into a trust called the Peverell Grant, which ever since has quite heavily subsidised the ongoing costs of running Hogwarts. It's also the case that very few generations of the Potter family have come and gone since without them making further contributions to the grant's total value. As a result, the Potters are far less rich than they would otherwise be — but Hogwarts has long been able to vary its admission fees based on each family's ability to pay.

Until now, that is.

The trustees of the Peverell Grant came to see me this morning, Minister. They're most unhappy. The terms of the grant placed very few conditions on that money, but two of them were, firstly, that the school maintain a uniform standard of excellence in education. I'm given to understand the trustees have been drumming their fingers on the tabletop over that point for a good few decades now. Oh, and your recent appointment to the staff of Madam Umbridge here was apparently the very last straw. Their words not mine, Minister. The second condition was a binding stipulation that there would always be a place at Hogwarts for the descendants of Iolanthe and Hardwin Potter. _Always_. You, Minister, have expelled their descendant Harry James Potter from Hogwarts in highly questionable circumstances and made it unlawful for him to possess or wield a wand anywhere in this country, let alone continue his education here. In retaliation the trustees are withdrawing the Peverell Grant from Hogwarts. All of it. Indefinitely.

Yes they _can_ do that, Madam Undersecretary. It's privately held money, after all. But over the centuries we've grown very dependant on that income. We can't run the school without it — unless, that is, we charge _all_ our students the full rate, _and_ increase that rate to well above what it is now. I assure you the parents of at least half the student body won't be able to afford it.

Since you ask, I'm given to understand the Peverell Grant shall be redirected. Those descendants of Iolanthe and Hardwin who _haven't_ been expelled are to be offered direct financial assistance to continue at Hogwarts; but the trustees reserve the right to revisit that decision if they ever decide we're overcharging them. As for Harry Potter, his living and education expenses — in whatever country he ends up in — are to be fully paid by the grant for the next nine years. Yes, _nine_. The suggestion was made in my hearing that it may take fully that long to remediate the quality of education he's received in Britain thus far.

Oh, as I see it, Minister, it's more a question of what _you're_ going to do. What with Albus Dumbledore being both Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and Grand Sorcerer of Great Britain on top of being Headmaster of Hogwarts, the school's Board of Governors has been only as powerful as a rubber stamp for years. Now that you've kicked him out, that leaves you with no-one to hide behind.

I do look forward to reading tomorrow's _Prophet_. Good day, Minister.


End file.
